Comic Strip / Madam & Eve

Serving gin and snark since 1992.^note From left to right: Thandi Sisulu, Gwen "Madam" Anderson, Eve Sisulu, and Mother Anderson

Madam & Eve is a South African Newspaper Comic strip written by Stephen Francis and drawn by Enrico "Rico" Schacherl. First published in 1992, it features a mix of domestic comedy and political satire. The core of the strip is the relationship between a white middle-class woman and her black maid, as they cope with the end of South Africa's Apartheid, a football World Cup, several presidential elections, and day-to-day issues such as crime, race relations, potholes, and television soap operas.

The four main characters are:

• Gwen "Madam" Anderson is a middle-class white South African woman and Eve's long-suffering boss. She has an adult son, Eric.
• Eve Sisulu, Madam's snarky, long-suffering, perpetually underpaid live-in black maid.
• Edith "Mother" Anderson is Madam's mother. She originally visited on vacation from England, but moved in as a permanent character in 1994. She is addicted to gin and tonic, and wages a never-ending war with the neighborhood Mielie Ladies (street vendors).
• Thandi Sisulu is an eight-year-old Zulu girl who frequently hangs around the house. Originally the baby sister of Eric Anderson's girlfriend, she has been retconned as Eve's cousin from next door.

Madam & Eve is a highly popular strip in South Africa, appearing in 13 publications with an audience of over 5 million people. A live-action sitcom adaptation appeared on South African TV from 2000 to 2002.

The official website for the strip is here. The Instagram site is here. An archive browser is available here.

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Madam & Eve features the following tropes:

• Acid Reflux Nightmare: A Running Gag is that eating curry for lunch gives Mother Anderson nightmares. Case and point.◊
• Affectionate Nickname: Thandi often calls Mother Anderson "Gogo" (Zulu for "grandmother").
• All Women Love Shoes: Few things get Madam more excited than a shoe sale.
• Animated Actors:
  • One series of strips (starting here) had Mother Anderson evicted from the comic after she lost an online poll. She ends up looking for work through the Acme Cartoon Employment Agency, then tries a stint as Batman's sidekick.◊
  • Another set of strips have Gwen and Edith subpoenaed by a commission investigating racism in comics. When they're accused of using the comic to perpetuate the "lazy maid" stereotype, Eve defends them by pointing out◊ that the strip also depicts white madams as insensitive boors who spend all their time watching soap operas and drinking gin.
• Artifact Title: When the strip first started, its main focus was on the relationship between the eponymous white Madam Gwen and her black maid Eve. In more recent years, however, the spotlight has shifted heavily to the relationship between Gwen’s mother Edith and her kid neighbor Thandi. If someone started reading the strip nowadays, they might wonder why it’s named after two characters who don’t appear as much as they did in the strip’s early years.
• Aside Glance: The characters will frequently look directly at the reader after a particularly groan-worthy punchline.
• Ass Shove:
  • After Madam and Mother are arrested for attending an illegal rave party, one of the other prisoners offers to let them use the cell phone that he snuck in.◊
    Mother: "I hope it's one of the small ones."
  • Implied◊ when Eve is asked about what she'd do if she were to win the All African Domestic Games.
  • President Mugabe finds another 50,000 votes.◊
• Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: Appears in this comic,◊ where Thandi confesses that she hid Mother Anderson's passport years ago so she could never leave South Africa. Cut to Mother watching Thandi playing outside, clearly touched, while Eve smiles at them both.
• Batman Gambit: In one strip, Eve is doing all sorts of disruptive housekeeping chores — vacuuming the floor, washing the windows, etc. — while Madam is trying to watch television in the lounge. Madam eventually gets frustrated and retreats to her bedroom, leaving the TV free for Eve to watch her soap operas.
• Been There, Shaped History: Eve claims in this series of strips that her ancestor inspired a number of William Shakespeare's plays.
  Shakespeare: Jislaaik, this woman comes up with catchy titles!
• Beleaguered Boss: Madam is a mild example, as her servant Eve Sisulu balances her housekeeping skills with a steady dose of quiet sass and attitude.
• Benevolent Monsters: In one set of strips, a family of Tokoloshes move in next door to the Andersons. They have no interest in kidnapping people, the husband's a computer programmer, and the wife has her own domestic servant.
  "Told you they're normal."
• Best Out of Infinity: In one strip, Madam and Eve play rock-paper-scissors for Eve's annual salary negotiations. Eve keeps winning, and Madam retorts with "Best out of 45!"
• Better than a Bare Bulb: The only trope Madam & Eve loves more than Lampshade Hanging is excessive snark, as the examples on this page demonstrate. The lampshades are frequently used for Breaking the Fourth Wall.
• Breaking the Fourth Wall:
  • Done from time to time, such as one strip where the characters complain about the bad art because artist Rico Schacherl was on vacation.
• Cacophony Cover Up: In this comic,◊ Gwen and Edith keep using loud noises to prevent Eve from hearing about the government's recommended minimum wage rates for domestic workers.
• Celebrity Lie: Inverted in this comic,◊ where the Andersons return home to find Eve throwing a large party. She explains that it's a birthday party for Nelson Mandella, and Madam declares the party over. Mandella hugs Eve goodbye, and the shocked Andersons chase after him... thus failing to notice the other superstars at the party.
• Cheerful Child: Thandi Sisulu is the most outwardly happy character in the cast. Lampshaded in this strip◊.
• Chromosome Casting: All of the main characters are female, with three adult women and an eight-year-old girl. Males are relegated to either supporting characters or Real Life political and celebrity figures. Technically, Gwen has an adult son, but he hasn't appeared in the comic for over a decade.
• Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: Madam's son Eric and his girlfriend Lizeka were introduced in 1993, but have disappeared from the strip since the early 2000s.
• Cloneopoly: A popular gag in the comic is to use fake board games to comment on current events, such as "ANC Monopoly"◊, "South African Monopoly"◊, and "Parliamentarian Monopoly".◊
• Comic-Book Time: The strip has run for over thirty years, yet none of the characters have aged and Eve still hasn't received a pay raise.
• Consistent Clothing Style:
  • Eve is almost never seen without her apron.
  • Madam is always shown wearing her large hoop earrings.
• Contrived Coincidence: The main characters have an uncanny ability to cross paths with famous Real Life South African politicians and luminaries. Lampshaded in this comic.◊
• Crossover Cameo:
  • One Sunday strip has Madam and Eve visited by Doonesbury's Sid Kibbitz, who tries to get hired as their manager and take Madam & Eve worldwide. Zonker Harris shows up at the end and starts asking about the local "dagga".
  • This comic◊ has Homer Simpson called to testify in the corruption trial of Jackie Selebi.
    "D'OH! Go ahead! Play the race card! It's because I'm yellow, isn't it?"
  • Samwise, Frodo, and Gollum end up at the Andersons.◊
• Cuckoo Clock Gag: The neighborhood Mielie Lady gifts Mother Anderson a cuckoo clock in this strip.◊ No points for guessing what the cuckoo bird has been replaced with.
• Cultural Translation: Spoofed in this comic◊ showing the "minor alterations" made to adapt Madam & Eve for publication in different countries.
• Dirty Old Woman: Mother Anderson dips into this on occasion, such as the time they visited a nude beach.◊
• Disproportionate Retribution: Done in this comic◊ with a supermarket cashier and an overly-long queue.
• Drop-In Character: Thandi, though most strips start with her already in the Anderson home. A Running Gag consists of Mother Anderson throwing her out and slamming the door.
• Ethnic Menial Labor: Eve is the black housekeeper to the middle-class white Madam.
• Faint in Shock: Eric does this twice when he runs into his mother◊ and grandmother◊ at an underground rave.
• "Far Side" Island: One story arc has Madam, Eve, and Mother abruptly stranded on a small island and find themselves trying to cope with the lack of resources. At the end of the week, a frustrated Mother walks off the island, revealing it to be in the middle of a city park.
• Faux Documentary: Thandi narrates Mother Anderson's daily routine as a nature documentary here.◊
• Fictional Political Party: In this set of strips, Mother Anderson joins the Surprise Party — their philosophies, policies, and candidates are hidden from everyone, including themselves. Their motto is "Are We Corrupt and Inefficient, or Honest and Hardworking? Vote for Us and Find Out!"
• The Fourth Wall Will Not Protect You: Occurs by accident after Mother Anderson hires some bouncers◊ to keep ruffians out of the comic.
• Fractured Fairy Tale: Mother Anderson often tells these to Thandi, to the consternation of Gwen. Such as in this example.◊
• The Gadfly: All of the main characters indulge in this.
  • Eve's roadside booths are often a way to throw shade at the Andersons or squeak out a few extra dollars from them.◊
  • Madam will prank Eve over her paycheck or their employee-employer relationship requirements.◊
  • Thandi periodically riles up Mother Anderson by commenting about her age or her Gin & Tonic habit◊.
  • In return, Mother Anderson enjoys telling Lies to Children and fractured fairy tales to Thandi, apparent to see how long it'll take her to realize she's been pranked.
• Gasshole: Deliberately induced in this strip◊ to comply with government directives during the COVID-19 Pandemic.
• Gender Flip: Done in this strip◊ to commemorate National Women's Day.
  Madam: "What should we celebrate?"
  Eve: "That we're not men?"
• Girl Friday: Spoofed when Mother Anderson retells the story of Robinson Crusoe.
  Madam: I shall call you... "Friday".
  Eve: I take Friday off.
  Madam: Then I shall call you "Friday Off".
• Girlish Pigtails: Eight-year-old Thandi is always shown with her hair tied in two small bunches on top of her cornrows.
• Gleeful and Grumpy Pairing: Thandi is the perpetually cheery eight-year-old girl next door, and Mother Anderson is the Grumpy Old Woman of the house.
• Goofy Suit: One story arc had Mother Anderson get a job dressed as Zakumi the Leopard, the 2010 World Cup mascot. She mostly used it to prank the local bartenders.
• Grumpy Old Woman: Mother Anderson's default state is being perpetually grouchy and unhappy. Though between the rampant government corruption, her snarky family members, and the noisy neighborhood Mielie Ladies, it's not entirely unjustified.
• Hired Help as Family: This is Madam and Eve's relationship in a nutshell; Eve is privy to all of the Anderson family secrets, yet is always considered a little bit of an outsider. Though the line between their employer/employee hierarchy is never blurred, the two bicker enough Like an Old Married Couple to fit this trope.
• Horror Doesn't Settle for Simple Tuesday: Explained in this comic◊ — the aliens invade on major holidays because they get paid double overtime for doing so.
• Identical Panel Gag: Done in this strip◊ ostensibly to reduce waste during a municipal workers' strike.
• Idle Rich:
  • The Andersons seem to fall under this trope — neither of them do any work (except for occasional part-time jobs as needed for a laugh), and there's seldom any anxiety about paying the bills or rising prices. Most discussions about money only arise during Eve's annual wage negotiations.
• I Know Mortal Kombat: Mother Anderson considers herself an expert in law because she's watched every episode of L.A. Law, Law & Order, and Ally McBeal.
• Initiation Ceremony: Eve has a nightmare about participating in a secret ritual to become a madam.◊
• Inkblot Test:
  • An early strip had the characters watching a television interview with white supremacist spree killer Barend Strydom after he was released from prison as part of F. W. De Klerk's 1992 amnesty:
    Interviewer: I have here some Rorschach ink-blot tests. Would you mind taking a look and tell me what you see?
    Strydom: For sure. No problem. Let me see... I've got it! It's a picture of a white man beating up a black man.
    Interviewer: Uh-huh... and this one?
    Strydom: ...I would say this is a black man flattened by a steamroller... and this one is a dead black man surrounded by butterflies... Got any more?
    Interviewer: Well, Barend, I think you have a serious problem.
    Strydom: ME?!! You're the one showing me all these racist pictures!
  • This strip◊ has Former SABC executive Hlaudi Motsoeneng interpreting inkblots into a self-aggrandizing reality.
    Hlaudi: That's me receiving the Nobel Prize for genius!
• Interclass Friendship: Working-class Eve has this with the well-to-do Andersons, even if their friendship is firmly on the vitriolic side.
• Invisible Parents: This trope is played straight with Thandi, whose home life is all but nonexistent and whose mother has only appeared in the comic a handful of times. This is especially notable during the COVID-19 Pandemic, as she's staying in the Anderson's home during the lockdown and even attends her remote school classes there.
• I Should Write a Book About This:
  • One story arc (starting here) features Eve writing and starring in a play about working for the Andersons. They don't find it funny, but it becomes a critical success.
  • Another arc had Eve write a novel about her job, but it's rejected by the publisher because the characters are unbelievable.
• Jail Bake: Subverted when the Andersons are sent to prison. Eve sends them a cake with two files inside, and the elated ladies immediately use them... to work on their manicures.◊
• Le Film Artistique: In this comic,◊ Gwen's son Eric shows off his student film, a documentary about a beleaguered maid, her exploitative madam, and a dinosaur attack. Neither Gwen nor Eve take it well.
  Madam: "I think you can kiss your trust fund goodbye."
• Lies to Children: Mother Anderson enjoys using these to "explain" various topics to Thandi.
• Literal-Minded: In one strip, Thandi hears President Donald Trump complain about being the victim of "the biggest witch hunt ever", then imagines him being chased down by a squadron of flying witches.
• Little Professor Dialog: Thandi regularly speaks with an adult-level vocabulary.
• Luxurious Liquor: Gin and tonic is Mother Anderson's Trademark Favorite Drink, though it's slightly subverted as the family's wealth is only ever implied.
• Mammy: Eve Sisulu is this trope played straight and sarcastically — she's a black live-in maid/housekeeper who does not always show the approved degree of respect for her white employer.
• Martial Arts and Crafts:
  • A variation appears in one set of strips where Eve practices for the South African Extreme Ironing competition.
    "It combines the thrills of an extreme outdoor activity with the satisfaction of a well-pressed shirt."
• Men Can't Keep House: A rare female version, as Madam tearfully admits◊ that she's "domestically challenged" and incapable of most basic housekeeping tasks on her own.
• Nepotism:
  • One strip explains that a new R300 million government compound was built on an active volcano because President Zuma hired his unqualified cousin as a consulting geologist. He gave himself a crash-course in geology by watching reruns of The Flintstones.
  • During a morality training class,◊ one student admitted he couldn't decide between awarding a government contract to his brother's construction company or his uncle's construction company.
• Never Mess with Granny: In addition to terrorizing the neighborhood Mielie Ladies with her katty (slingshot), Mother Anderson's also gotten into brawls with her Animated Actor replacement, and once held a government minister hostage to protest a liquor tax increase.
• Nobody Here but Us Statues: For her "Museum of Domestic Horrors", Eve gets one of the Mielie Ladies to pretend to be a statue, who mocks Mother Anderson when her back is turned.
• No Celebrities Were Harmed: Averted hard — prominent politicians and celebrities (from South Africa and elsewhere) are named and shown very frequently.
• No Ending: Most of the comic's multi-strip story arcs will end abruptly, with the characters returning to the status quo without comment.
• No Fourth Wall: The comic does this fairly often — the characters will address the audience, criticize punchlines, experience technical difficulties, and file for unemployment.
  • This series of strips has the comic downsized from four panels to three due to an ink shortage.
  • Done in this July 25, 2019 farewell comic,◊ marking the series' departure from the Mail & Guardian newspaper.
• Non-Residential Residence: Played for laughs in this comic,◊ when Eve rents out parts of household appliances (the ironing board, the top of the washer, etc.) for attendees of the 2010 World Cup.
• Print Long-Runners: In print since 1992.
• Professional Slacker: Eve is not above sneaking some downtime where she can, such as taking two-hour tea breaks or napping on her ironing board.
• Prone to Vomiting: On Madam and Eve's first airplane flight, Eve gushes excitedly about flying while Madam spends the entire time throwing up into a paper bag.
• Pun-Based Title: The comic is named after the Biblical characters Adam and Eve, naturally. Lampshaded here.◊
• Real Life Writes the Plot: When the creators were robbed in 2021, the comic was unavailable for a week. Filler strips explaining the situation were displayed in the interim.
• Reimagining the Artifact: Thandi was originally introduced as the baby sister to Eric's college girlfriend Lizeka. However, with Eric and Lizeka written out of the strip, Thandi has been retconned as Eve's cousin.
• Remember the New Guy?: Madam & Eve has done this several times, usually by having family members come by to visit — examples include Mother Anderson's identical twin sister and Eve Sisulu's mom. The most notable case would be Gwen's son Eric, who was abruptly introduced in 1993, appeared in a few strips, then promptly forgotten.^note Then he reappeared again before being permanently written out.
• Robot Maid: The Andersons try to replace Eve with a RoboMaid 2000. Things don't go as planned.
• Running Gag:
  • Eve hasn't gotten a pay raise in over thirty years, so she supplements her income by selling various services from a roadside booth.
  • Mother Anderson throws Thandi out of the house and slams the door behind her.
  • Mother Anderson's ongoing war against the local Mielie Ladies.^note Vendors who sell ears of corn by walking down the street while loudly yelling "MIELLLLLLLLIES!"
  • Mother Anderson gets an Acid Reflux Nightmare after having curry for lunch.
• Sassy Black Woman: Eve plays this trope with a quiet deadpan, serving up her sass through small acts of rebellion and wry expressions.
• Screw Politeness, I'm a Senior!: Mother Anderson doesn't hesitate to speak her mind, and happily finds ways to get Thandi out of the house.◊ She also wages an ongoing war against the neighborhood street vendors ("Mielie Ladies") with her slingshot.
• Servile Snarker: Eve serves snark more than anything else in the Anderson house.
• Shout-Out:
  • Eve naps on her ironing board in a tribute to Snoopy from Peanuts.
  • One 2017 Sunday strip◊ was named "Eskom's Life of Brian Molefe", reflecting the then-current corruption scandal with lyrics set to the tune of "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life".
  • Several comics are deliberately done in the style of The Far Side
• Signature Headgear: Thandi always wears two pink bows in her short pigtails.
• Slobs Versus Snobs: Eve Sisulu is a blue-collar housekeeper working for two comfortable middle-class "madams". Downplayed in that while Eve is a Professional Slacker, she isn't particularly slobbish, and the Andersons have a low-key austere lifestyle with a vaguely undefined fortune.
• Special Person, Normal Name: According to this comic,◊ the Grim Reaper prefers to be simply called "Bob".
  ...Bob Death?!
• Sphere Eyes: Most of the characters have these. Somewhat averted with Mother Anderson and Thandi, who are drawn with either two pupils in a single sphere eye or eyes with only a partial circumference.
• Spoof Aesop: Don't Drink and Drive!◊
• Status Quo Is God: This trope is played rigidly straight; aside from the early introduction of Mother Anderson and Thandi Sisulu, there have been no major permanent changes since the strip first started in 1993. Even the introduction of Gwen's son Eric was quietly ignored afterward (twice!).
• Stern Teacher: Thandi's unnamed and long-suffering teacher frequently sends her to the principal's office for failing to do her homework.
• Sudden Name Change: When she was first introduced, Mother Anderson was given the first name "Abigail". Her twin sister Edith was introduced in 1995; afterwards, the two characters swapped names, with "Edith" being the character in the comic and "Abigail" as the visiting twin.
• Trademark Favorite Drink: Mother Anderson loves her gin and tonic, and is seldom seen without holding a glass. She even has a gin vault in the house stocked with hundreds of bottles just in case.
• Transformation Comic: One arc had Mother Anderson taking experimental drugs that briefly turned her into how the comic portrays the African cast, complete with the ability to speak Zulu, laughing at jokes mocking madams (despite being a madam herself), and even buying Mielies^note The South African word for corn from the Mielie Lady instead of pelting her with her sling shot. It lasts for a couple of strips before she turned back.
• Trolling Translator: When the Andersons ask Eve to give them African names, she renames Mother Anderson "Ugogo We Sixhwele,"^note Old Woman Who Drinks Lots Of Gin and Gwen becomes "Ingoco Ne Vila."^note She Who Is Cheap And Lazy The madams love their exotic-sounding names.
• Uncatty Resemblance: Invoked in this strip.◊
• Victory Is Boring: One week of strips began with Mother Anderson successfully driving away the neighborhood Meilie Lady with her incessant slingshot attacks. After a brief cheer of victory, she falls into a deep funk due to having nothing to challenge her. When the Meilie Lady returns at the end of the week, they exchange warm hugs, then Mother grabs her slingshot and gives chase once again.
• Viewers Are Geniuses: Justified; Madam & Eve is unafraid of leaning into its South African roots, frequently making jokes about local customs, using regional slang, and referring to local news and events. The strip will sometimes explain the most esoteric stuff for the benefit of outsiders, but readers not from South Africa will be challenged to understand the more subtle humor in the comic.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: This is the primary dynamic between the characters; for all of their snarking and passive-aggressive sniping, they enjoy each other's company and support each other. Word of God says "Madam & Eve fight a lot, but they secretly like each other, even though neither of them will admit it."
• Wax On, Wax Off: Parodied when Eve teaches Madam the "Maid Aerobics" exercise regimen — it's Eve's household chores disguised as a weight-loss program.
• What If?: One comic◊ presents rejected ideas for Madam & Eve, such as "Adam & Steve" and "Madonna & Eve".
• Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: The sight of a single Parktown prawn (African King cricket) is enough to turn all of the characters into nervous, quivering wrecks. Demonstrated here.◊
• You Say Tomato: The Trope Namer song gets adapted in this strip,◊ with three verses' worth.